DESCRIPTION:

DEPAUL’S VISION is of a society in which everyone has a place to call home and a stake in their community.
DEPAUL’S MISSION is to end homelessness and change the lives of those affected by it.
We believe that we cannot achieve our vision & mission without the active involvement of volunteers in our work.
Working with Depaul will give you an opportunity to work with an organisation that underpins its work in the following values

SKILLS OF A PEER ADVOCATE

The ideal advocate should:

• Have a lived experience of homelessness.
• Be willing to travel to different locations, this may involve some occasional travel to different counties in Ireland.
• Good time management skills.
• Have good written and verbal communication skills.
• Be secure in recovery if relevant.
• Basic IT skills.

ROLE DESCRIPTION:

We are looking for an individual who has a lived experienced homelessness to join our team. The Peer Advocates accompany service users to and from health appointments and help people better understand their health needs and receive appropriate support. We work to improve service users’ confidence in using health services and increase their ability to access healthcare independently.
The Homeless Health Peer Advocates will attend health care appointments with service users, supporting in navigating the health care system and advocating on behalf of the service users to ensure they get the treatment they need. The HHPA service is open to all which will involve the Peer Advocates supporting people with co- morbidities such as drug/alcohol addiction, complex mental health needs, domestic and family violence, cognitive impairments, and people with forensic history.

PAID PEER ADVOCATE’S MAIN TASKS

• Work alongside different referring agencies such as, Inclusion health teams, Homeless service and medical services.
• Participate in assessing new referrals referred into the service with the line manager.
• Accompany and advocate for people at health care appointments. This may be a variety of appointments, including gp’s, hospital, dental, mental health and many more.
• Provide clear effective handovers to service user’s key workers after appointment support.
• Using a check in/check out system with the line manager before and after appointments.
• Help health care providers to make contact with service users and notify them of their appointments.
• Focus on building the skills and confidence to enable service users to continue accessing health services independently.
• Facilitate health promotion groups.
• Engage in lived experience groups and support the development of DePaul’s Lived experience group.
• Engage in supporting different research as appropriate and support with assessing service user’s health outcomes through the questionnaires.
• Attend different homeless services highlighting the HHPA service to staff and service users.
• To attend team meetings and any training organised by line Manager which has been identified as beneficial for your progression in the role.
• To adhere to all Depaul policies and local procedures.
• To adhere fully to Organisational Risk Management Procedures, especially in relation to assessing risk and to lone working.
• To ensure that all service users information is recorded and stored as required (OTIS database/other records) and in line with Data Protection regulations and Depaul’s Confidentiality Policy.
• To respect the service users’ right to confidentiality in our relationship with them as per the Depaul Confidentiality policy and code of conduct.
• To promote respect, diversity and equal opportunities.
• To attend supervision sessions with Line Manager to discuss your professional development.
  The above list is not exhaustive; additional areas of responsibility may be added over time.